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Post by tntmom on Jan 8, 2013 19:09:34 GMT -5
I was going through a tumbling mix bin from May 2011 to put together a box for someone. It's a mixture of gosh knows what from who knows where. I found a slab in it that is sooooo cool! Being a slab, it wasn't supposed to be in there and to be honest, I don't remember seeing it before. Any help? The rind is black 1/8" thick. It's agate filled cells of something??? And a couple back-lit: Thanks in advance!
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 8, 2013 20:07:47 GMT -5
Holy smoke that is strange! Looks a little bit like shrinkwood and lots of Texas wood has a black rind but since it's a slab I can't tell if the rind has a wood look to it. Also kind of looks to me like it's some kind of nodule that has been internally fractured and rehealed but I've got to admit it's got me stumped.....Mel
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 8, 2013 20:38:18 GMT -5
not a clue
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Jan 8, 2013 20:40:00 GMT -5
That is a cool slab!
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rockingthenorth
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Post by rockingthenorth on Jan 8, 2013 20:50:07 GMT -5
Very cool slab whatever it is
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Post by gr on Jan 8, 2013 21:08:48 GMT -5
Looks like a very cool January killer cab contest candidate. Whatever it is, it is very unusal and worthy of your finishing skills
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Post by tntmom on Jan 8, 2013 22:39:18 GMT -5
Thanks Gary, but.... I'm a little afraid to cut it if it might be something special? If not though..... I'm all over cabbing it!!!!
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Post by kk on Jan 8, 2013 23:11:30 GMT -5
Mel: How about a type of Snake Skin Agate? The skin looks to dark, but the patterns within could fit.
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Post by helens on Jan 8, 2013 23:56:13 GMT -5
Found it!!! Not sure this is what you have... but I saw these quartz points at a show that looked just like that, and I had to find out what it was. It's called Quench Crackling, and it's an effect of dropping heated quartz into a shock of cold bath (now why it doesn't crumble like tempered glass baffles me). This is what it looks like: undergroundcrystals.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_22Some time ago, I bought a strand of agates called 'dragon skin agate'. Looks the same... BEAUTIFULLY crackled in a cell-like formation. At the time, I didn't know much about stones, so I just figured it was an unusual type of agate. This is what that looks like... teeny crackles in little beads, but just gorgeous (and no, they don't fall apart! Very solid, I bought some): www.ebay.com/itm/0144-12mm-Dragon-skin-agate-round-loose-beads-/330373034124?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cebc4708cSo you just reminded me of that, and I went on a little mission to find how they did it. This is how I THINK it's done: www.ehow.com/how_6012423_dye-crystals.htmlThe part I don't get is... why don't the cracked pieces fall apart? Also, they talk about doing this to GLASS.... uhh... when making glass, you always keep a little jar of water on the table to get stuck glass off your tools. You dunk the tool, and the glass violently explodes off it into the water. You want a bit of hot glass off the tip of your rod, you quench in the jar... it explodes off it. What keeps it TOGETHER after you quench??
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Post by helens on Jan 9, 2013 2:05:32 GMT -5
I forgot to mention that this is one of the most beautiful effects I've ever seen. I'm assuming that it's this treatment, I probably shouldn't. Maybe there IS a natural rock that does this, and your piece has nothing to do with what I'm talking about Krystee. It's a BEAUTIFUL effect in person, whatever the material.
Makes me want to try it, but knowing what happens when you quench hot glass, I'm not sure the method as described is complete.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jan 9, 2013 8:56:09 GMT -5
It does look like quenched glass Helen.Does look similar to a form of Tejas shrinkwood.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jan 9, 2013 9:48:58 GMT -5
Yeah, that could be it. The Chinese have a process for agate ( don't know how they do it) similar to the crackled quartz process for producing what they have trade named " Crab Fire Agate" I've only ever seen it with carnelian but maybe they do it with other agate too. Google "Crab Fire Agate" and see what you think......Mel
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 9, 2013 10:16:25 GMT -5
It looks natural to me. I have a couple of similar looking ones, I'll take some photos and get them posted. Still no idea what it is, though... Jean
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The Dad_Ohs
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Jan 9, 2013 12:45:49 GMT -5
if the sizes of the fractures/crystals were more uniform, I would say it was a piece of agate, I have both montana & brazilian with similar crystalization within it, but in thin slices it is very fragile so anything under 3/16-1/4 inch is not workable unless some stabilizing if done...Opticon, doublet, triplet...
Your piece is not uniform enough and yet has an interesting pattern to it within the crystals in it... so it is beyond me, the rind reminds me of black agate, which is what I was originally going to say... I have something similar with a hollow center and a nice little druzy pocket, but it has an orange layer under the black so not really the same.
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Post by tntmom on Jan 9, 2013 13:52:10 GMT -5
@ Helen and Mel,
I think you guys might be right. I googled Crab Fire Agate, found a message board at Mindat regarding this stone and they were calling it Spiderweb Carnelian which IS heat treated. I then googled Spiderweb Carnelian and saw a few pictures of finished beads that are of the lighter more neutral colors like my piece. I also found pictures of Dragon Skin Agate that look like my piece. I wonder if they're both the same and just being called differently?
I've hounded quite a bit of Carnelian on the Washington Oregon border and none of it had a black rind. If this is Spiderweb Carnelian I am wondering if the black skin is a result of the heat treatment process?
I don't know if I can get a better picture but when I hold it up to the light it looks like there are at least 3 layers of these "cell type" structures withing the 1/8" slab. Kind of like a piece of honey comb but each layer is slightly shifted. The surface looks completely smooth. Would that mean that however this heat treatment is done also heals the crackling? If the treatment didn't heal the cells then I wonder if I try to face polish it and I go too deep, will the whole thing fall apart.... hmmmmmmm
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2013 14:39:49 GMT -5
nothing to add. BUt it is bad@ss!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2013 14:48:57 GMT -5
Here is the beryl material to which I referred: I believe mine was from Mt. White in Colorado. The cellular-looking stuff grows in layers, as shown in the 2nd pic. There is a dark rind, but it doesn't match yours (though both could be caused by iron oxides on the weathering surface). Most "crab fire agate" is glass (some perhaps quartz glass), no matter what the hype says. The idea that the Chinese are heat-quenching valuable carnelian is ridiculous. Much easier to control the color, cracking with glass, which also has the benefit of being able to reheat and anneal to keep from flying appart when cabbed (not to mention moulded). Don't give up on it being something else. Have you tested it for RI and hardness?
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Post by gingerkid on Jan 9, 2013 15:13:17 GMT -5
Pretty slab, Krystee! No idea what it might be called though. Love your beryl, R2D!! Interesting about the crab fire agate glass pieces seen on the market. Sure wish they wouldn't call it fire agate.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 9, 2013 15:27:20 GMT -5
That beryl is really cool, rocks2dust.
Okay, I finally found one of the slabs I cut from the piece that I thought looked a lot like Krystee's mystery stone. I mis-remembered it! It did not have the crackle effect, but rather had fibrous inclusions that made the stone appear "checked." And it did not have a black rind, either...Oh, well.
Like Emily Litella (character played by the talented Gilda Radner on SNL in the late 70s) used to day, "Never mind!" Still a cool rock, whatever it is. Jean
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Post by tntmom on Jan 9, 2013 16:50:14 GMT -5
The only test I have done on it was to try to scratch it with a thumbtack and a box cutter. I was able to get metal residue lines on it but they wiped off clean with my thumb. I was not able to scratch it.
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